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Fixing immigration

Via Radley Balko at Reason, Jeb Bush and Robert Putnam write a good immigration policy op-ed. The op-ed starts off by debunking some of the current concerns, like low rates of English speaking and multigenerational, insular ethnic communities, by looking at our history of solving similar “problems” with earlier immigration waves. Then it gets to what I view as the meat:

One important difference, however, that separates immigration then and now: We native-born Americans are doing less than our great-grandparents did to welcome immigrants.

A century ago, religious, civic and business groups and government provided classes in English and citizenship. Historian Thomas P. Vadasz found that in Bethlehem, Pa., a thriving town of about 20,000, roughly two-thirds of whom were immigrants, the biggest employer, Bethlehem Steel, and the local YMCA offered free English instruction to thousands of immigrants in the early 20th century, even paying them to take classes. Today, immigrants face long waiting lists for English classes, even ones they pay for.

Why is this important? A legal immigration system is the not-so-secret edge in a competitive, interconnected world economy. Immigrants enhance our ability to grow and prosper in the dynamic global marketplace. We will need every possible advantage to expand our economy amid its fiscal challenges. Moreover, the aging of our population places a premium on young, productive workers, many of whom must come from immigration.

Now, I would rather the case be made on a philosophical-moral level–free labor markets and movement across borders are essential liberties–but the pragmatic argument works, too. One of the reasons our welfare state model is in less trouble than its counterparts in Europe is the infusion of younger working immigrants. If we’re not going to scrap the Social Security Ponzi scheme, the least we can do is make the base of the pyramid wider by accepting more tax-paying immigrant workers. And yes, rather than organizing Minuteman patrols, I do think people would accomplish a lot more good by remembering the immigrant experiences of their own ancestors and working to help the current generation of people looking for an opportunity to assimilate.

I’m not 100% on board with Bush and Putnam’s policy suggestions and I don’t like their decision to make the pragmatic argument for immigration, but at least it’s better than the hemming and hawing coming down from Obama.